Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

In this post-apocalyptic take on the road trip novel, a troupe of travelling actors and musicians bring Shakespeare to America’s isolated survivors in the aftermath of a global pandemic that wipes out most of civilisation. Marketing Manager Nina Kenwood describes this Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel as ‘smart, haunting and inventive’. Read her full review here.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

13-year-old Jojo and his younger sister Kayla live with their grandparents in rural Mississippi. When their father, a white man, is released from prison, their mother Leonie packs the children into her car with a friend, and together they set off to collect the man she loves with a toxic passion. Rich with Jesmyn Ward’s distinctive, lyrical language, Sing, Unburied, Sing brings the archetypal road novel into rural twenty-first century America. Read our review here.

The Last Days of California by Mary Miller

Teenager Jess is waiting for the world to end. Her evangelical father has packed up the family to drive to California, hoping to save as many souls as possible before the Second Coming. With her long-suffering mother and rebellious (secretly pregnant) sister, Jess hands out tracts at every break in the journey while her belief frays. Online bookseller Chris Somerville says: ‘Miller gives us such an authentic teenager in Jess. She’s the perfect companion for this funny, strange and, ultimately, heartbreaking book.’

Blood by Tony Birch

Jesse has sworn to protect his sister, Rachel, no matter what. It’s a promise that cannot be broken. A promise made in blood. But, when it comes down to life or death, how can he find the courage to keep it? Doncaster bookseller Jo Case says: ‘This is a fractured fairytale, a dark Australian road story, but also an affecting tale about the bond between a brother and sister, and how the most unexpected people can transform lives.’ Read her full review here.

The Wangs vs The World by Jade Chang

Chinese/Taiwanese immigrant Charles Wang has just lost the cosmetics fortune he built up since emigrating to the US. Gone are the houses, the cars, and the incredible lifestyle. Faced with this loss, he decides to take his family on a trip to China and attempt to reclaim his ancestral lands. But first they must go on a cross-country journey from their foreclosed Bel-Air home to the Upstate New York retreat of his eldest daughter, Saina. The Wangs vs The World chronicles this cross-country journal with wit and verve, skewering stereotypes of Asian-Americans.

Swallow The Air by Tara June Winch

When May’s mother dies suddenly, she and her brother Billy are taken in by Aunty. However, their loss leaves them both searching for their place in a world that doesn’t seem to want them. While Billy takes his own destructive path, May sets out to find her father and her Aboriginal identity. Her journey leads her from the Australian east coast to the far north, but it is the people she meets, not the destinations, that teach her what it is to belong.

The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin

Two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee, take to the road to escape the hit and run accident caused by Jerry. With intense feeling and compassion, Willy Vlautin goes back to tell their stories and explore the frustrations and failed dreams of the two brothers – one a natural storyteller, the other an artist. Interspersed with drawings that come to form an integral part of the narrative, The Motel Life is a poetic, moving and tragic fictional debut from Vlautin.

The Pea Pickers by Eve Langley

First published in 1942, this Australian classic is a semi-autobiographical narrative set in the 1920s. Two sisters, dressed as men and taking men’s names, Steve and Blue, decide to work as agricultural labourers in Gippsland, the place their mother has told them about throughout their childhood and with which they feel they have a ‘spiritual link’. Here, they pack apples and pick peas. But their disguise is partial – and their quest is for love. Eve Langley drew from her own diary and writings to create this work.